


The Girls Back Home

by cymyguy



Series: Stick [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Birthday Presents, Christmas, College, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, Morning Sickness, New Year's Eve, Travel, Unplanned Pregnancy, college athletes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-05 11:37:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16367153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymyguy/pseuds/cymyguy
Summary: “Hey Kageyama-kun, are you going to your parents’ or relatives’ house for the holidays?”“To my parents’. When the relatives aren’t there.”He nods knowingly.“Why do you care?” she says.“What? What does that mean? I can’t just ask out of curiosity?”“Did you want to ask me to come home with you or something?”~Kageyama and Hinata do the responsible thing and visit each other's families over holiday break





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this title is taken unashamedly from a Taylor Swift song

The Women’s Collegiate Volleyball Championship Tournament took place during the first and second weeks of December, right at finals time. And finally, after two years of losing out in the semis, Kageyama had _won_.

She was confident that they would, the hardest part was getting over that semifinal hump, and once clear of it she knew they would pull it out to the end. What she hadn’t expected was that game playing out like a dream, in the way her teammates were suddenly all on par, all at their very best, and she could toss wherever she wanted in confidence, she could call any play, because everything was just clicking.

Now, in present day, things are anything but firing on all cylinders, anything but smooth like clockwork, because that was volleyball, and this is life, and she’s always been much, much better at the former. She’s 4 months pregnant, and it’s harder to find clothes, harder to find appetizing things to eat, and she’s grateful that class is not in session, as her memory with schedules and deadlines hasn’t been the best lately. She assumes she’ll come to better terms with things; right now her body is adjusting. Last Friday was the big game, but today, Wednesday, it feels like it could’ve happened a month ago, for as different as everything seems. As different as she seems.

She is coming back from the cafeteria to her dorm, thinking that it’s nice to make this walk empty-handed, without a backpack or a gym bag, then chiding herself for slipping so easily out of self-discipline to indulge in laziness, just because she’s a little heavier and crankier now. There is a voice behind her, that at first she ignores, assuming on instinct that whoever they are they aren’t talking to her.

“Kageyamaaaa, hey, Kageyama!”

Well, maybe they are. People have been a little more prone to approaching her this week, after they all watched her on TV last. She turns, and sees him.

“Kageyama-kun! Hi!”

Hinata sprints up to her, grinning.

“How are you? Congratulations on the game!”

“Thank y—”

He claps his hands down on her shoulders.

“That was so amazing, it was the best volleyball game I’ve ever seen! I wish I’d been there to see it in person, you all looked so happy on TV and I just wanted to hug you and all the girls!”

And he does hug her.

“I’m so proud and happy for you! You were amazing!”

He lets go and she turns away automatically, blood pouring into her cheeks as she stalks forward.

“Kageyama?” He hops along beside her. “I’m—Um, I’m sorry, I was just really excited to see you after watching you on TV. I’m sorry, I—I should respect boundaries, I know. Sorry.” He bumps her shoulder. “But you did so good!”

“Thanks.”

“My team’s really pumped up, after watching you guys win, and we’re going to win for sure, Karasuno’s gonna go 2 for 2, a double championship,” he cheers.

She turns to him. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, of course, totally.”

“You know that we were the second seed, right? You’re the fifth.”

“Well yeah but that doesn’t matter—”

“You’re one and three against the four seeds above you. Our men’s team has never gotten past the quarterfinals. You haven’t beaten the team you’ll meet in the quarters in 9 years.”

He stares with his mouth open.

“Just saying,” she says. “You’ll have to overcome all that in order to win.”

“A—Of course! Of course we can do it, and are you on our side or what? Are you even going to cheer for us when we’re on TV?”

“I will, but I won’t get my hopes too high.”

“Rude!”

She’s reached the sidewalk leading right up to her front door, and Hinata’s still tagging along. She slows down and gives him a look until he notices and stammers out:

“Hey Kageyama-kun, are you going to your parents’ or relatives’ house for the holidays?”

“To my parents’. When the relatives aren’t there.”

He nods knowingly.

“Why do you care?” she says.

“What? What does that mean? I can’t just ask out of curiosity?”

“Did you want to ask me to come home with you or something?”

“Gah! Well—Well I will ask, yeah, because my family wants to meet you, which you don’t have to say yes but I just thought I’d ask, if you were going to have spare time, I was thinking it’d be a good thing. They know the whole story, I promise, so it won’t be awkward, and it could just be for like a day, I could bring you back home after one meal. If that seems okay. But if you think it’s weird you don’t have to, I didn’t tell them you would or anything. So—So if you want to.”

“It’s probably a good idea.”

“So then are you going to say yes?”

She shrugs as she nods, but Hinata smiles anyway.

“I can come and meet your parents too,” he says.

“Um—”

“Or not! If it’s not a good time or you just prefer not to, whatever you want to do Kageyama, if you wanted me to I would but if you don’t that’s okay.”

“It’s not that I don’t—I mean, I don’t want you to have to,” she says. “They thought I was really irresponsible, and I’m not sure what they would say to you. I don’t want them to be rude, that wouldn’t be a very good holiday for you.”

“Oh, well you shouldn’t worry,” Hinata says, “Because my dad was _furious_ , so I’m not really scared of what your parents would say.”

“F—Furious?”

“Yeah, nothing could possibly be any scarier!” He grins reassuringly.

She looks at her shoes. “I’d like you to come. For a little while.”

“Okay, and I want you to come!”

“Okay.”

“We can just text the details and stuff later, right?”

“That’s fine.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you Kageyama-san.” He waves as he walks away.

“See you.”

 

Yes, Hinata is her baby’s daddy, and the reason she thought her life would end two weeks ago.

Kageyama had slumped at the end of the regular season, something she’d never done before in her career. She’d even had to sit out for a set just because she wasn’t playing well. During practices going into the tournament she felt like she was constantly on the verge of sickness. For it she wasn’t eating a lot, and she was much more tired than normal. But apparently that _was_ normal, because at the checkup she had right before the tournament started, she was assured that this was the natural course of things, at this stage of pregnancy there was bound to be a lot of fatigue, and the trouble with queasiness was normal too. Well, Kageyama would have liked to be told this before the end of August when she was deciding to let somebody’s condomless dick inside her.

The two assistant coaches had come to that appointment (along with her parents), concerned about the health of the baby when Kageyama would have no choice in the next two weeks but to exert herself to the maximum. The stress was an even bigger concern. But the doctor was patient even in the face of five people very much the contrary, and explained all the precautions necessary, while assuring them that since Kageyama had been doing this kind of activity for months and months that stopping it would be worse than continuing; her body would be more stressed by the change than it would be by her playing like always. But she would have to come off the court if there was any pain aside from the growing aches, and she might be forced to take breaks if her energy levels just weren’t up to standard.

She came out of that appointment really wanting to run into Hinata, so she could give him something to remind his jaw at least for a few days what her whole body was having to remember every day.

There was another thing to deal with too, that she treated like a non-issue in front of other people, but that was most definitely an issue when she put on her uniform for the first game. The spandex fabric stretched enough that her shirt wasn’t going to ride up, but the bump was on full display, and she saw no point in lying to herself about being pretty damn self-conscious. She was clearing showing now, it would no longer pass off as a bit of pudge, although to have people thinking that was arguably worse. How could she expect people to take her seriously as an athlete when she wasn’t as lean and washboarded as ever?

Kageyama Tobio might be a boring person, in terms of interests and general personality, but she wasn’t one-dimensional. Neither was her playing; there was more than one thing that made her good at her sport. Guts was one of those things.

 

On December 22 Hinata leaves his car in dorm parking and has Kageyama pick him up, to take him to her parent’s house across town. He has asked twice why her parents celebrate on this day, and asks her again when he gets in the car. She distracts from the question by complimenting his slim brown sweater and holeless jeans.

“They’ll like the way you’re dressed.”

“Really?” His cheeks rosy.

“Yeah.”

They pull out of the parking lot.

“So, uh, how do your parents feel about you being a mom?”

“They’re proud of me for making the commitment to it,” she says. “They weren’t too thrilled that I slept with some random guy. They said it would be different if you were my boyfriend, but I don’t know why, that wouldn’t make this any easier.”

“Your—Your—B—Boyfriend? But I’m not your boyfriend.”

She sneaks in a glare. “Yeah, I’m aware of that.”

“I’m glad I got pregnant instead of any STIs,” Kageyama says then.

Hinata laughs loudly, and she rolls her eyes. This guy can stand up to a sexually aggressive football player but gets all squirmy because she mentioned the word boyfriend?

This makes her think of why the whole situation came about in the first place. It’s because Hinata is a nice guy. There are lots of exceptionally annoying things about him, and she can list half a dozen things he’s done or said already during this ride that she doesn’t approve of, but she is sincerely hoping, praying, that her parents won’t be rude to Hinata, because that’s the last thing she thinks he deserves.

When they leave the car and she leads him up the sidewalk, Hinata suddenly chirps angrily at her.

“Kageyama! How—How dare you tell me I look okay when you look like that!”

She stops, looks down at her jeans, wine-colored sweater and black puffer vest, and looks back at him, frowning.

“I look like crap compared to you! I look like a college guy pretending I’m responsible.”

“Well they probably just heard you so it’s not going to matter now anyway.”

Hinata is still irked at her, but holds it in as she opens the door and is met by two soft smiles and “Happy birthday Tobio.”

He is dumbfounded. Kageyama shoots him a silencing look, then pulls him discreetly by the sleeve to get him inside. Now he’s doubly mad at her, but he can’t mention it while he’s being looked up and down by her parents, or while he’s having his hand wrung by them, or while he’s trying for a golden smile and very polite compliments of their home. He can’t mention it after all this either, because dinner has been waiting on them and now they are all being seated at the table and he is next to Kageyama so he can’t even give her a dirty look.

He is a little glad to be next to her when the interrogation starts, because her parents are on the other side of the table and it’s an even two on two match, even if he’s a little uncertain of where his partner’s loyalties lie.

“Where are you from originally?” says her father.

“Yukigaoka. My family still lives there.”

“You came to Karasuno on a sports scholarship, from what I understand.”

“Yes, Kageyama-san and I have our sport in common.”

“How are you getting along in school? Are you making good degree progress?”

“Um, yes, I’ve never been great at studies but I like what I’m learning about now and I’m doing good. Well, I’m doing well.”

“Will you be graduating on schedule with Tobio?” says her mother.

“Yes. I think so.”

“That was a trick question,” Tobio says. “I’ll be graduating later now, probably.”

“Oh. Well I might be too. I mean—I—I don’t really know,” he murmurs, turning red.

Kageyama rolls her eyes, with a little smirk that doesn’t go unnoticed.

“What are you studying?” her mother says.

“Sports and recreation management. Last year I was in sports psychology, but I wasn’t very good at the classes and—and so I switched my major over the summer.”

“I see.”

Even the optimist Hinata can hear the coolness in her tone.

“Um, how long have you guys been married?”

“Twenty-eight years,” says her mother.

“Wow, nice. I mean, that’s cool, I’m glad it’s worked out, I admire you. For that.”

Kageyama can’t say this is going well, but it’s proving to be entertaining, at least.

“Tell us about your own family, Hinata-kun.”

“Oh, well, my parents got divorced a long time ago, and we don’t really talk to my mom. My sister’s in third year of middle school. My dad manages a department store.”

Just like that she’s no longer entertained. She can’t help staring, and her parents are quiet and avoiding his eyes. Hinata looks at her and blushes. She says quickly:

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“Oh yeah, her name’s Natsu, everyone says we look exactly alike. Which I think is cute, but she’s starting to dislike it, I think.”

“Does she play volleyball?” Kageyama says.

“No, she likes watching me play though. She wants to be a cheerleader when she gets into high school.” He nods eagerly.

“I’m sure she’s a sweet girl,” says her mother.

He smiles bigger. “Oh, yes.”

“Is she short too?”

“Tobio, I think that’s a little rude,” says her father.

She shrugs. Hinata laughs.

“Yeah, she is.”

“What kinds of interests does Hinata Natsu have?” her mother says delicately.

“Well, she watches a lot of makeup tutorials. And she has K-pop posters all over her room. I guess I don’t really know, since I don’t see her much anymore.”

Her mother purses her lips. Luckily Hinata doesn’t notice. He compliments their cooking. Then he brings up Kageyama’s championship game, and her parents find him as eager to listen as they are to talk about their daughter’s volleyball career, and the conversation improves considerably. Tobio drinks from her personal milk jug and tries not to listen.

After dinner they tell her that her presents are in the family room, and she groans when they have left for the kitchen with the dishes.

“Kageyama,” he whispers with venom. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday? How could you do that? I should’ve gotten you two gifts and instead I didn’t get you any! I’m a terrible father!”

“What are you even talking about?”

She gets up, and he follows her into the other room, where three pristinely wrapped boxes are stacked by the sofa.

“I can’t be here for this, Kageyama, this looks so bad.”

“Tell them you gave me a present before we came.”

“I can’t _lie_ about this.”

“So tell them you didn’t know,” she says. “Just because this happened doesn’t mean you’re obligated to get me gifts. I didn’t get you anything and I don’t plan to.”

“But I can’t tell them I didn’t know about Christmas because obviously I couldn’t not know about that, so I should’ve at least got you a gift for that and now they think I’m rude and that I wasn’t thinking of you.”

“You _weren’t_ thinking of me, were you?” she threatens.

“Well I—I tried to come up with something, but I don’t know anything about you, so it was hard, and you look nice all the time so I wasn’t about to buy you any clothing type thing, and you don’t seem like you lose or forget things so I didn’t know what you could possibly need, so I just gave up and didn’t get anything, I’m sorry!”

“Don’t apologize, I don’t need gifts from you! I hate gifts, it’s the worst thing about holidays, I wish my parents would forget my birthday but they never have.”

“Huh? You don’t like your birthday? What—What?”

“I appreciate the gesture,” she explains, “But they could just cook for me and be done with it, I don’t like being watched as I open presents and then have to thank them and say they’re really thoughtful, and I really don’t need anything so just the meal would be nice and I—But like I said I didn’t get you anything so don’t worry about it. I doubt they’ll comment on it.”

“You just don’t like being obligated to say thank you,” Hinata says.

“Shut up.”

Her parents come into the room and sit down on the other sofa. Hinata tries to smile but is fidgeting beside her.

“We saved one for Christmas Day, of course,” says her mother. “So just the three for now. Go ahead, Tobi.”

She takes the lid off the first box, which makes Hinata realize it’s the prewrapped kind. Kageyama pulls out a baby blue sweater.

“I was shopping with my friend and she insisted I try that on,” says her mother. “I knew it would be much more flattering on you, so there.”

Hinata grimaces behind his hand as Kageyama nods and sort of smiles.

“The blue will go nice with your eyes,” Hinata says, then bites hard on his cheek.

“Yes,” her mother smiles.

Kageyama kicks his ankle behind the stack of boxes.

He starts to understand, maybe a little; the way they silently watch her is making things pretty awkward. She reaches into the box again and takes out a gray crewneck sweatshirt, unfolding it to reveal their school’s name in print.

“Cool,” she says.

“Tobio’s favorite,” her father says, presumably to Hinata. “We get her one every year.”

“It’s nice,” Hinata says. “I didn’t know the university had those.”

“Yeah because you’ve probably never been to the bookstore in your life,” says Kageyama.

“Of course I have!”

She’s smirking as she reaches into the box again. She takes out two packs of Adidas crew socks, one black and one white.

“Useful,” Hinata says to fill the silence.

Kageyama opens the next present, a set of white, expensive looking headphones. Again she says nothing, and her parents make no comment, and Hinata is too uncomfortable to force out anything else. She picks up the last box, and pauses.

“This one’s for you too,” she says. She holds it toward him, and Hinata sees his name after hers.

She holds it out farther, and he takes it from her. Kageyama gives a look of mistrust in the direction of her parents, then leans over to see as he removes the lid.

“Oh—my gosh—these—are the most adorable thing I’ve seen in my life!”

He holds up a pair of infant-sized Nike trainers. Kageyama thinks they should be familiar. She leans farther to look into the box, which is filled, literally, with baby shoes.

“We went a little overboard for Tobio, the first time around,” says her mother. “But it’s been put to rights now, you might say, since we kept them and they’ll be of use again, now.”

Kageyama doesn’t think she even has so many shoes _now_. There’s a pair for every occasion, for every kind of weather, and they’re all very very cute and make Kageyama remember that she’ll have a small someone who fits this kind of thing, and when she thinks that she’s very careful not to look at Hinata in all his purity and adoration.

“No wonder you’re so well dressed, Kageyama-kun,” he says. “You were from the very start.”

She has the urge to smile at her parents, because she likes this gift more than she’s liked any other, but she looks once at Hinata’s fawning, slightly amazed face and thinks of what they did by putting his name on the package. They deliberately roped him into this, gave him an expectation of involvement, and she doesn’t like that. She thanks them, but smooths away any sign of a smile.

 

Kageyama has been living in fear that they will make her and Hinata play board games, which is what they usually do when it’s the three of them attempting to while away the time before guests come. The only games they own are intellectual, incredibly boring ones, and it will be incredibly awkward for both she and her baby daddy if they are forced to play at her parents’ serious brand of fun; she can’t imagine Hinata being any more adept at them than she is. There are no board games in sight, and no allusion has been made to them yet, but Tobio is quick to suggest movies at the first sign that they’ll be needing something more than conversation to supplement their entertainment.

Her parents like good hard dead dramas, and she hopes an effective way to get rid of them is a series of stupidly light-hearted Christmas movies, conveniently showing on the family channel. Even though she’s not particularly fond of them either, they drive her parents back to the dining room almost at once, and Hinata makes it clear to her, and them a wall away, that his enjoyment of the movies knows no bounds. Kageyama is glad and surprised it takes no greater effort on her part to make him enjoy his vacation.

However, it hasn’t been fifteen minutes when her mother comes back to the living room.

“I left my sweater.”

She grabs her cardigan off the chair, choosing to ignore her daughter’s hard look, and leaves again.

They’ve gotten through ten minutes of the movie and fifty commercials when her father enters the room, walking into their line of sight with his hands on his hips.

“Tobio, have you seen my glasses in here?”

“Nope.”

Hinata looks from her to him, until her father shrugs and leaves.

In twenty minutes (she times it) he is back, just to stand behind the couch and ask what’s on TV.

“I take it you didn’t find your glasses,” she says. Her father leaves again.

Hinata speaks low at her side.

“Do they think we’re gonna—you know.”

“I’m sure they’ve been thinking that since I told them I was pregnant.”

“Oh. But they know I’m not your boyfriend, so—”

“So they assume we’re just physical.”

“Ohh.”

For a moment she wants to punch him, right in the round, rosy, festive cheek.

 

The next morning, Hinata slips across the hall to the cracked door of Kageyama’s room, and eases it open enough to see inside. She is going toward her bathroom, and he follows stealthily. When he steps in after her and makes to shut the door she startles.

“Hey, what the hell—”

As he is shutting the door he catches her father’s eye, he is looking pass Kageyama’s door into the room and the look is not one of approval, Hinata would guess. He quickly shuts the door.

“He knows!” he crows hoarsely.

“Knows what, what are you doing in here, dumbass.”

“I—I—I think I accidentally broke the thermostat in that room.”

Her eyes cloud over.

“Because you were screwing around with it like I told you not to?”

She grabs his hair and he gives a sharp little cry. Then there is a knock on the bathroom door.

“Tobio, are you busy in there?”

“Yes Dad, I’m in the middle of giving head.”

Hinata’s jaw drops at her. It is quiet outside.

“What did you do to it?” she hisses. “You know how much that thing cost? You can say goodbye to your car if it has to be replaced.”

“But it was an accident! I’m the father of his grandchild!”

“You’re a dumbass!”

She cracks the door open and checks, then pulls him out and back to the guest room.

“What the hell did you do, Hinata?”

The array of green digits on the screen is flashing warningly. As they stare at it the room temperature ticks up, degree by degree. 77. 78. Tobio reads the word flashing next to the numbers.

“You—You overrode it? How did you override it? What the hell were you trying to do?” She grabs him by the collar. “What did you do to override it?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I guess I got the password right!”

“Well what’s the password? We obviously need to override it again because apparently you set it to 95 degrees or something, how did you know the password?”

“I don’t remember which one it was,” he cries, “I tried like forty different ones and when I actually got it right I couldn’t remember which one I entered that time, that’s why I came to get you.”

She shakes him.

“You stood here—trying out forty passwords—and then had the balls to tell me it was an accident?”

“I didn’t want to actually override it, I just wanted to see what the password was because for stuff like this parents usually use something with their kid’s name or birthday, you know, and I just wanted to see if your parents had a cute nickname for you, you know like from your childhood. That’s all.”

She snaps, and gives him a giant shove across the room, where he trips over his bag and falls, thudding against a dresser with his head.

“Ow, geez—”

“What the hell is the password, how can you not remember what you guessed right?”

She slams at the buttons, trying to stop the number from ticking to 85, 86—

“Kageyama it’s getting really hot in here really fast, is that thing in control of the whole house?”

“I don’t know what it controls or how you even reset it, nobody but my dad has ever touched this thing. And my dad doesn’t have any nicknames for me.”

“Yes he does because that’s what it was, something with Tobio and your birthday.”

“Was it something embarrassing?”

He laughs. _Laughs_.

“Ha, yeah.”

“Then how can you not remember it,” she hollers.

“Um—Um—” He presses his hands to his head, screwing his eyes shut. “It was something—something adorable, something you definitely wouldn’t want as a username or an email—”

“I can’t believe I let a fucking idiot into this house.”

“I think it was something like a mispronunciation of your name?”

“Oh my gosh. I know what it is.”

“What is it, tell me!”

“No!”

She cups her hand over the screen as she hits the ‘receive passcode’ button and punches it in.

“Was my birthday in it?”

“Yeah yeah, 2212 I’m pretty sure—”

There is a beep, and the green of the screen goes away. Kageyama studies the options for a moment, then hits another button.

“Go check my room to see what he has the temperature set to,” she says. “And do not touch a single button.”

He scurries out and back into the room.

“72 point 6.”

“Are you positive?”

“Yes, and also I just remembered what it is! Tobiwobio! That’s pretty crazy that I managed to guess that—”

“You pull a stunt like that again,” she snarls, “You break anything, you screw anything else up, I’m not bailing you out. You’re on your own.”

He follows her down the hall.

“Ah come on, if you would’ve just admitted you had a cute nickname—”

“It’s not a nickname, I said it one time when I was little and learning to talk and now that you know I’m never going to fucking live it down.”

“Kageyama,” he wails, “That’s such a cute story, we should name the baby that—”

“Shut up, if my dad hears that name he’s going to be on to us.”

“Oh, crap—”

Her father may have heard them, because he leaves the kitchen almost as soon as they enter it. Kageyama doesn’t feel like breakfast, so after a glass of milk, ignoring the whispered pleas of Hinata to stay, she goes into the next room to laze on the couch. Her father is reading the paper, but puts it down after a minute and makes to leave. She gets annoyed, and her voice displays it.

“Dad.”

He turns a little but doesn’t settle his eyes on her.

“Nothing happened in the bathroom.”

He looks at her now.

“You don’t normally lie to me,” he says, “So I just assumed you were telling the truth back there.”

“I—Hinata was having a fatherhood crisis,” she lies. Her father blinks seriously behind his glasses.

“Oh. He does seem like somewhat of an anxious type. Maybe I—Maybe I could talk with him a little. I may not know everything, but I know a thing or two, right? Do you think it might be helpful?”

She fights off a smile. “Yeah, it might. I know he would appreciate it.”

Her father nods and walks toward the kitchen.

Her mother comes in just as Kageyama is looking thoughtfully at the front of her sweatshirt.

“Hey Mom? Did you keep any of your maternity clothes?”

“I know I have a few things, but I don’t think it’s much. We can go shopping before you go back to school.”

“I’m fine for now,” she says, “I’ll just buy as I need it.”

“It’s hard,” her mother says. “Your jeans will even stop fitting, for a whole trimester your closet will shrink to almost no options. I wasn’t keen on that part of pregnancy.”

Tobio glances at her. Then her brow goes up, and she scoffs to herself.

“Some help shrimp kid will be,” she says. “I'm supposed to be able to wear some of his hoodies or something, right?”

Her mother gives a soft laugh.

“He’s already surprised us once with his contribution, maybe he will again.”

She thinks she should scold her mom, but is too stunned to say anything.

Hinata comes shortly to join her on the couch, looking somewhat pale and discomposed from the ‘talk’ with her father. She holds in a laugh.

Hinata, for his part, is surprised to find that apparently her sweatpants and the new Karasuno crewneck are her outfit for today. Her parents are as prim and polished as ever, and he is wearing khakis and a green thermal, which is definitely try-hard for him. Soon he understands better, when Kageyama bends over with a grunt, and a few minutes later hunches farther, a small groan escaping. She freezes, scolding herself and hoping he didn’t hear—

“What? What is it, your stomach hurts?”

“Growing pains,” she says.

“Woah.”

He is staring like she’s an alien lifeform. She narrows her eyes.

“I’m assuming you didn’t pay much attention in health classes.”

“Well they don’t teach all the details of this stuff in guys’ health class anyway,” he huffs.

“Well they should.”

“Oh, yeah, probably. But I can just google it. Or I can just ask you! So your stomach hurts now because it’s stretching the skin?”

“And the muscles.”

“But I thought your bodies were prepared for it, isn’t that what they’re made to do?”

“Yeah but it doesn’t happen magically, dumbass.”

“Well I know that. Wouldn’t that be a lot cooler though? And easier.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, and I wouldn’t need you.”

“Hey, don’t say that.”

She feels like she’s eerily lucky this Christmas, or else like she should’ve brought someone home a lot sooner, because no board games ever appear, and instead her parents suggest something actually fun, for she and Hinata to decorate the cookies as they bake them. When it gets dark out they suggest a walk around town, to look at lights, and Tobio can’t believe how cool her parents are acting. Cookies are good, and walking is good, Hinata seems happy and she doesn’t feel like he’s been her prisoner for two days.

When they get home, her parents go back into the kitchen to finish up the goodies, while the kids prepare to head upstairs, presumably to be followed before very long. Then Kageyama turns back and goes into the kitchen, and Hinata stalls on the stairs. He hears rummaging, then hears her mother speak.

“Tobio, have you heard back about Family Housing yet?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you.”

“Your request was accepted, then?”

“Yeah. They haven’t given me a moving date yet.”

“It’ll be good for you, I imagine. Probably quieter, and more homey.”

“I won’t be close to the team, though,” says Kageyama.

“No, but that’s going to become a necessary change when your baby’s here, Tobi.”

“I know.”

Then she comes back out, with two steaming cups of cider.

“Can I trust you with this?”

Hinata makes a face and takes one cup from her hand. They go upstairs, and she goes to her room, clicking the door shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata’s family lives two hours away. He is going to pick her up after his practice. While she’s waiting at her parents’ house, nervously not watching TV on the couch, her mother has the sense to ask if they will be going to a New Year’s party tomorrow night.

“I don’t know.”

Kageyama hadn’t thought of that. She _met_ Hinata at a party, and she’d be willing to bet he enjoys them (probably even more now, since that one ended in reinforcement). But he hasn’t mentioned a party, so if the jerk is going to show up today and tell her there is one, she won’t be prepared. Well, now she will be, she’s determined to be.

It’s a little hard to pick an outfit when she’s not in front of her closet, but she knows of a dress she owns that would suit the occasion. How well that dress fits at the moment is impossible to guess. She goes up to her mother’s closet and hunts around until she finds a plain black shawl she can cover with if nothing else. She borrows some black nylons too.

Hinata comes. She tells him she needs to stop at her dorm to get a few things. So they do, and she goes for the black velvet dress in the back of her closet, that she really likes but has never yet had the guts to wear. She quickly tries it on, to see how the bump looks; the black still manages to slim, and she supposes she bought it a size too big like usual, so this is more along the lines of how it’s technically supposed to fit. She grabs her military boots and almost walks out the door with the dress on. She tugs and twists her way out of it, and puts both items in her bag.

The way Hinata drives through town makes Kageyama think she shouldn’t distract him by saying anything, or he might actually get rear-ended by the guy he’s fretting over in the rearview mirror, or get sideswiped by the truck that takes up all of the lane next to them and makes Hinata hug too close to the sidewalk. But when they get out onto the freeway he does calm down a bit and manage to settle his hands in one position on the wheel.

She’s a little afraid to get the first earful from his dad, if he really is as angry as Hinata said. So she starts with:

“So…your dad is mad?”

He snorts. “Oh yeah. This is the maddest he’s ever been at me, and he’s been mad at me a lot because I do stupid things, sometimes, so I guess this is the most stupid thing I’ve ever done because he _freaked_ out. He made Natsu go over to a friend’s house when I came home the first time, because he didn’t want her to see what would happen.”

She turns, open-mouthed, to stare at him.

“What—What happened?” she says.

“Hm? He yelled at me, like for hours. He had a notebook with a bunch of stuff he wrote down that he wanted to say to me, and he made this really huge long speech from it. And he cried a lot, and that made me cry—Just a little bit. And he was so mad and scared and he kept saying he messed me up with the divorce and didn’t mean for things to turn out like this—Oh, I probably shouldn’t have told you that, he said sorry for all that stuff afterwards, he said he didn’t mean that, that I had turned out bad, so never mind.”

When he looks at her, the color is running out of her cheeks.

“Kageyama?! He’s not mad at _you_ , really! He’s not! Because you’re not his kid and you’re your own woman, so you can do what you want. And he always wanted to be a grandparent, he’s super excited to have a grandkid, it’s just he’s not super excited about me being young and having no job. It’s a little stressful, I guess. And he’ll really like you, Kageyama,” he goes on. “I’ve told him about you before just with volleyball, and then when our school won I told him how amazing you were and everything, how awesome it was to watch! I can’t believe how you made that comeback, it was like better than anyone could think up for a sports movie, you guys kept making such awesome plays like hyaaaa—”

She had never been so tired. Nights of no sleep, the stomach flu, two-a-day practices early and late, none of it had made her feel exhausted in her muscles, her bones, her core, like this. They were just starting the second set of the championship game, and they had lost the first set, and she watched the players on the other side of the net move for the first play and couldn’t understand how it looked so easy. She knew she was in trouble. So did her coach, because a play later she was already subbed out.

She was fighting, but not with her body anymore, against it. She had to fight it to get it to cooperate, in order to fight against her opponents. She knew the strength was there, though, and she just had to push past this mental barrier and gain forcible access to it. They asked if she was in any serious pain. She wanted to give the automatic answer, but she slowed herself down, stopped, focused, and confirmed for real that she was not. She gulped at an energy drink, and they sent her back in.

Since the weather was so cooperative this winter, the big viewing party back at campus had turned into a massive one by being held out on the soccer field, playing larger than life on the screen at one end. Hinata was there, along with the rest of the men’s team, and basically every other team that wasn’t the one playing right now, and basically every department of study was represented too. The camera zoomed in on Kageyama as she held up a number and came in from the sidelines, smacking her backup’s ass, to which there were raucous dude cheers, but not from Hinata. Since Kageyama’s first toss he had had no clue what he was feeling, he just knew it was a lot. The bump, that he put there, was obvious and couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, and it was just lucky that nobody could hear a word of the announcing because they were all screaming so loud, or he would probably pass out at their mentioning how Karasuno’s three year starting setter had been cleared by doctors to play in this tournament, despite being pregnant.

She had been told she should be careful of diving, but it was only hovering vaguely in the back of her mind, with what was on her plate right now. She was always pretty good about not putting her kneepads to use, knowing far ahead of time where she would be required to go to make the second touch. But not every pass was going to be readable.

This one shot for the net, coming badly off the receiver’s fists, and she had to lay out to get it up before it got there, had to pop it instead of playing it off the net, because that would be way more difficult to read than a straight angle like this. Her middle scored off it.

“ _Setter Kageyama makes a great play but is getting quite the look from the coaching box for it, as she’s slow to get up_ —”

Hinata’s gasps and outcries mingled with the others on the field, as Kageyama darted toward the bleachers or dove and rolled over her shoulder back to her feet. He was enamored, floored, scared for his heart, and watching her play this well, carrying that swell in her midsection that was foreign to the rest of her, would probably make him more aroused than he had ever been in his life if he wasn’t completely freaking out.

Kageyama was equally out of breath and miserable, cursing under her breath at every point they lost, because it would be another point she had to get herself through and get back. Her legs were giving her nothing; when she set to the outside, it didn’t make it out enough, and she watched her hitter nailed down and stuffed. She hoped this was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do.

 

Kageyama is the one who has to present this trip, and Hinata is the one in comfy jeans and a hoodie with ‘meat’ on the front. As they pull into the driveway she smooths her clothes and checks her braid in the mirror. She needs to look like she has things together enough to go through with this. She needs to look like she has it all.

The door is already open, and his dad is there with a big smile.

“Glad you made it safely! It’s nice to meet you, Kageyama-kun.”

“Thank you.” She can’t make her voice any louder than a soft croak. “You too. I mean, it’s nice to meet you also.”

“Hey Dad,” Hinata grins.

“Hey Sho.”

His father hugs him with one arm.

“Where’s Natsu?”

He looks around.

“She was just here with me, she was at the window and told me you were pulling up. Natsu?”

There is no answer.

“I’ll bring Kageyama to my room, then we’ll come back down,” Hinata says.

“Sure thing. I can whip up some cocoa if anyone’s interested.”

As soon as he says the word Kageyama can smell it, and almost taste it, and she wants some, she’s never been that big of a fan but right now it seems like everything she could ask for.

“Yes please!” says Hinata. “You want some Kageyama?”

She stubbornly shakes her head, overriding her body’s new weaknesses with a psychological iron fist.

Hinata shows her up the stairs of this small house. There are three bedrooms on the second floor, and a fourth closed door which Hinata approaches and calls through.

“Hey Natsu are you in there? Me and Kageyama are here.”

They hear a girl’s voice.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay, we’ll be downstairs. Dad’s making cocoa.”

He leads Kageyama to a bedroom that is more like half of one.

“Natsu had this room while she was little,” he says, “And I had the bigger one, but once I left there was no point in her staying in the small one, so this is where I sleep when I come. But I won’t sleep in here with you,” he hurries. “I’ll be on the couch, or maybe with my dad. Um, I’m sorry it’s so tiny, it’s not even as big as your dorm room—”

“My dorm room’s twice as big as I need it to be,” she says, dropping her bag resolutely on the bed.

“It’s not even a bedroom, really, it’s technically an office, and it’s nothing like the guest room your parents have—”

“Shut up.”

She goes first down the stairs.

Since his dad made four cups anyway, she figures she has to take one to be polite, but that’s the only reason she does, not because she’s giving in to her body. His dad talks about volleyball right away, congratulating her in the same tone as Hinata had, without the physical contact and the jumpiness. Kageyama is surprised that forty minutes have gone by, and that she is being made a third cup of cocoa by Hinata while his dad, fed up entirely, goes upstairs to demand his daughter come out of the bathroom and stop being absolutely rude to their guest. He comes back down without her, however. Kageyama was anticipating a little, she wants to see this girl version of her mate, because maybe their kid will look like her.

“I just don’t know what to do,” says his dad. “She spends more and more time in there, and hell if I know what she does or who she does it with. Maybe Kageyama can give me a few tips about girls this age.”

“Dad, no,” says Hinata.

“Well it’s something she knows about, and that she’ll have to deal with for her own too, eventually. How are you feeling about motherhood, Kageyama-kun?”

He asks mostly the same questions her parents asked Hinata, about school and future work. But he seems pretty tame compared to what Hinata described. It might be Kageyama’s presence keeping him cooled off. Or maybe he goes up and down a lot, kind of like Hinata. It seems like the initial emotions are extremely high and unhindered in him, but he also settles in quickly.

“Natsu, there you are!” Hinata says.

She is standing in the doorway, one foot hovering over the tile floor as if it is lava.

“Natsu,” her dad says loudly, “If you feel embarrassed now you only have yourself to blame.”

Now they are _all_ embarrassed, and his dad looks sheepish.

“Hi,” Natsu says.

“Hi,” is her hallow reply.

Natsu sits between her dad and brother and scoots her cup of cocoa in front of her. She never takes her eyes off it, but never drinks any either. Kageyama is a little embarrassed that she looks at her often enough to confirm this, but she never gets caught, and she wants to see exactly what’s different in the siblings’ expressions, because every feature on its own appears to be the same. She thinks she might have liked a sister, while it’s being quiet and unspoiled and cute like this.

When the rest of them are done his dad says it’s probably time for everyone to get settled, since it’s Kageyama’s first night. She gives his sister time to escape before she goes upstairs herself. Hinata follows her. He loiters in the hall while she gets things from her bag, and goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she comes back he is still pacing there, as much as the tiny hall will allow.

“I’m going to change now,” she says, and shuts the door on him.

She opens it a minute later and he is still there.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, are you gonna go to sleep? It’s still early, so I thought if you weren’t, we could still talk or something. Unless you are. Then never mind.”

“Well you’re the one at home, so don’t you want to be with your family?”

“If you don’t want me to be with you then I won’t, it’s fine,” he says.

“You can stay if you want, it’s your room, idiot.”

The present stops. Saying that puts her right back to the night in question. It’s what she should have said to him in her room, before she left abruptly, in a way that expected him to be gone when she got back. She should have invited him to sleep in the extra bed, because after he had been so nice and she was so rude, it is still hard for her to swallow. She hadn’t meant to make him feel like leaving, she’d meant to say he could do what he felt like and was under no obligation either way, but of course she hadn’t been able to talk to him, even after they had just done that together, so all she said was that she was going to shower, and that whatever he did just better not inconvenience her, basically.

“—add an insult to everything? And that makes it obvious that you don’t want me to stay,” Hinata is saying.

“I just said, I don’t _care_ if you stay.”

“Then you don’t want me to,” he snaps.

“If you think that then why aren’t you taking the hint and leaving?”

“Maybe I don’t wanna leave!”

“You are a—”

She eyes Natsu’s room, then retreats into her own.

“Dummy.”

She sits down on the bed and starts going through her bag again. In her peripheral she watches Hinata edge through the doorway and eventually take a seat on the floor.

“What are you doing?” he says.

“Moisturizing.”

“Oh. It’s good to take care of yourself.”

She turns. “What?”

“I said it’s good to take care of yourself.”

“I heard you. Why are you stating something so obvious?”

“I didn’t mean it—I meant like because you’re pregnant, so it’s good to take extra care of yourself and feel good, and the baby will be good too. And if you take care of yourself that means you’ll take care of our kid too, so that’s—good. Is how I meant it.”

That is good. And he’s thought about it, which is also good.

“You go quiet all the time,” he says. “You just stop talking, why do you do that?”

“Unlike you I try to think before I say something.”

He grumbles under his breath.

“Hey Kageyama, when did you last go to the doctor?”

“Last week, why?”

“How was everything? Nothing got messed up because you were playing volleyball, right?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“You should’ve told me that right after you went. I should know about this stuff.” He pouts his lip.

She shrugs. “Sorry.”

“You don’t know what it is yet, do you?”

She looks blank.

“The gender, Kageyama, what else would I be talking about? Who’s the dummy here?”

“Shut up. I’m having a girl.”

“WHAT?”

He’s on his feet.

“You already know the gender and didn’t tell me, are you kidding, that’s like the biggest jerk move ever, I—I can’t even _believe_ you—”

“I haven’t found out yet,” she crows over him. “Not officially. But I know I’m having a girl, because I want a girl.”

He scoffs. He scoffs again.

“You—What are you saying? That’s not how it works, Kageyama, you know you don’t get to pick, right?”

She shrugs and goes back to her self-care.

“Kageyama what if it’s not a girl, are you not going to like it as much?”

“It is a girl.”

“You don’t know that!”

She grits her teeth. “Yes I do. You will after the next appointment, that’s what they said.”

“So if it’s a boy are you going to—Wait, really? The next appointment? That seems quick.”

“I’m halfway done after this week,” she says. “This is 18.”

“A—I—Please don’t say it like that.”

He looks a little ill.

“So you’ve been healthy at all your appointments?”

“Duh. I’m an athlete.”

“So am I,” he spouts.

“I exercise appropriately and I always keep a balanced diet,” she says. “I get enough sleep and I’m not over-stressed. I just have to get more of some certain kinds of vitamins and minerals that I normally wouldn’t need as much of. I’m taking care of that.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“How about you?” she accuses. “You’d probably be twice the player if you gave a shit about nutrition and progressive training.”

“Hey you don’t need to be all high and mighty, I take care of that stuff too, of course, how else could I make it being this height unless I was in the best condition possible?”

She snorts. “Yeah, you need every advantage you can get.”

“Hey, shut it.”

Then Kageyama sits up, stock still. Her eyes revolve slowly to him. Hinata’s mouth drops in horror.

“What? What is it, what’s happening Kageyama?”

She stands up and points accusingly at him.

“She better not get bad genes from you!”

“What?”

“What if she’s short, how is she going to play volleyball if she’s short?”

“Hey I _play_ volleyball—”

“I’m such an idiot! What if she’s not tall enough to be scouted, what if she can’t make a good college team, what if they won’t give her a chance—Because of you!”

She points again.

“Well if she _is_ short I guess I’ll raise her on my own,” he hollers, “Because you apparently won’t want her if she’s not a perfectly bred little prodigy—”

“I want her,” she says, and they both go quiet, as the finality of her voice still rings through the room.

Kageyama sits back down.

“I’m being stupid,” she says, “She’ll be amazing either way, it doesn’t matter. But you better take responsibility if she is short and feels like she has a disadvantage, because she’ll obviously know it’s your fault.”

“Gah! I suppose you’ll want her to be a _setter_ too.”

Her eyes narrow. “What else would she be?”

“You jerk. And anyway, I still don’t believe it’s a girl, and you shouldn’t be so set on that either.”

“Whatever.”

Her eyes roam around the room. When she looks at him again he scowls. She considers this tiny room, and the worn out mattress under her, hard springs poking up harshly. She checks to see that no one is in the hall.

“Hinata—”

“What?”

“You don’t have a lot of money, do you.”

It’s absolutely the worse thing she’s ever heard herself say. Her stomach falls right out of her ass and she closes her eyes in disbelief. She forces them open to check the damage; Hinata is going a little red, but he’s looking at her and it seems to die back down again as he sees that her face doesn’t match the bluntness or condescension he thought he heard. He stumbles out:

“It’s—Not a lot, no, but…”

“I don’t have a lot of money either, technically,” Kageyama says. “I have a savings account, but my parents put in everything. I can use it though, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Well I’m going to—”

“You can help if you want, I’m not saying you can’t, if you would feel crappy or whatever for not then it’s fine, but you don’t—you don’t have to.”

His face is fully red now and he’s looking at the floor.

“Sorry,” she says. “Sorry I brought it up. Forget it, never mind. I’ll figure it out later.”

She can’t apologize the sour look off his face, but she tries.

“Hi—Hinata I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to point it out and make you—It’s not a problem, I can see that you grew up in a nice house and you dress nice and you have a nice family, and you’re a good athlete so you obviously have always had food and—”

She covers her face with her hands.

“Oh my gosh,” she whispers. “I’m sorry,” she says again. “Please forget I said anything. I’m sorry Hinata.”

He laughs a little. She still doesn’t want to look up.

“It’s okay Kageyama. It’s not that it made me feel bad, it just made me think of all the stuff my dad said about providing, and being stable. He knows it’s hard, and we never did have very much money, we’ve always lived in this small house and I’ve never really dressed that nice but that’s okay. Now you’re getting stressed out, Kageyama, so stop, okay? You forget about it too.”

She puts her hands down, but still looks away from him.

“I appreciate you letting me stay here,” she says, forcing it through her burning throat.

“I know. And I asked you to, remember, so I wasn’t ashamed to have you come.”

That’s true, he did ask her, so he must be proud of his family and house, because it’s impossible for it to be the other way around. He said they wanted to meet her, not that _he_ wanted them to meet her, so it makes sense.

She glances at him. He smiles. She feels like she should say more to make him understand, but she really doesn’t want to talk anymore. And he knows, thank goodness he can tell just by the way she turns her shoulder, and how she bounces her knee impatiently. He gets up.

“Goodnight Kageyama-san.”

“Bye.”

She rolls her eyes at herself, and huffs after he has closed the door. As she lays her head on the pillow she tells herself she has to be better tomorrow. A lot better.


	3. Chapter 3

When she wakes, she sends Hinata a text telling him to come get her when he gets up. It is over two hours (not that she expected less) before he knocks. At least she had time to get dressed and do makeup. She follows him down to breakfast, and he gets to present her with a set table and a huge stack of hot waffles that he apparently helped his dad make.

Her reaction is not the joyful surprise he hoped for, or even the polite smile and thanks he thought more likely. She does say thank you, but is distractedly tallying up calories and saturated fats. She knew this would happen, that’s why she packed protein bars and cereal. But this is proving difficult beyond just guest protocol, as the smell of the waffles is filling the room, and as she watches Hinata dump syrup over a plateful.

His dad leaves the room, to retrieve his second born again, and Hinata invites her to sit, but she doesn’t. He asks if she doesn’t like waffles. She doesn’t answer.

“Kageyama it’s okay if you don’t like waffles,” he says. “Even though it’d be super rude of you not to eat when my dad got up early to make you something he’s actually good at making, and it would probably hurt his feelings.”

She glares, and says “I just don’t eat them.”

“Oh, why not? They’re not that bad for you, are they?”

She gives a grim summary of their nutritional value.

“Well yeah, but, can’t you let yourself indulge once, since you’re not in season right now, since you just won the championship, and since you’re pregnant? Isn’t that enough of a reason to enjoy yourself for once, Kageyama?”

“I—I can have one, maybe,” she says. “But you have to stop me if I want more after that.”

He smiles with his cheeks stuffed and nods. “Mm hm!”

Well, he doesn’t stop her, and she ends up having three and splitting a fourth with Hinata. She clutches at her gut as she finishes her third glass of milk.

“I hate you, you idiot, this is your fault,” she groans under her breath.

“But Kageyama, you looked so happy while you were eating them, and you never look happy.”

She can’t retort because his dad comes back into the kitchen. Natsu follows him, wearing a hoodie and looking in no one’s direction. Kageyama is almost purged of her guilt when his dad looks at the dent they made in the mound of waffles and grins, asking how they liked them.

She guesses that Natsu is here against her will, and thinks it best to leave her alone, so she gets up to go, and Hinata is going to follow. His dad stops them by saying:

“Oh, Shoyo, I forgot to ask if you’re going to the party. Takeda-sensei invited me to his, so if you need the car I’ll have you drop me off at the bus station.”

“Oh crap, I forgot all about the—the party! I didn’t bring any dress clothes! Wait, you’re going to my old teacher’s party?”

Kageyama is sure that he didn’t forget, even though she doesn’t have any idea of what could motivate him to embarrass her.

“Um, hey Kageyama?”

She checks to see that his dad can’t see, then gives him a dry look. Hinata chuckles half-heartedly.

“So, uh, it’s just, there’s this party that we have every year in town for old students, like who have graduated, you know? So a lot of people I know will be there, and I like to go because it’s the only time I really see them because everyone’s so busy. It’s a New Year’s party,” he adds, “And it’s pretty cool, they rent out this big place and there’s good food and everyone dresses up, kind of like the Gala at school, but not like super formal, but anyway, it’s pretty fun so if you wanted to, but we don’t have to of course, I know it’s—like—You might be uncomfortable since I didn’t mention it before now, so it’s cool, it’s okay if you don’t want to. So, do you, or not?”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Kageyama leaves the kitchen, knowing Hinata will tail her.

“Did—Did you say okay, you will?”

She turns on him. “You forgot? About a party that you go to every year?”

“I’ve only gone twice and yeah I did actually forget, and if you’re mad I just said you don’t have to go, I get it, and I’m sorry.”

She turns back around and starts up the stairs.

“What do you expect me to wear to a party you didn’t tell me about before I got here?”

“You don’t have to wear anything because we don’t have to go, I don’t have anything to wear either—”

“Well I’m not going to be wearing nothing, sorry if that disappoints you.”

“What? What are you going to wear? Wait, are you saying—Are we going to—”

“Lucky for you I have common sense and know people have parties on New Year’s, so I packed something just in case.”

“Oh, really? Kageyama—”

His hand on her arm stops her from going into her room.

“If we’re really going to go, look me in the eye and say that, or else you’re just confusing me.”

She pulls her arm away from him.

“If you want to see your friends and whatever, we’ll go.”

He cocks his head. “That’s not a good answer and I’m still pretty sure you don’t want to. I mean, I could go myself, just to see my friends and hang out for a while, and you could always stay here if you’ll like that better. But my dad has that party too, so it’ll just be you and Natsu.”

“I’ll go to the party,” she says quickly.

He raises his eyebrows. She steadies her eyes on him.

“I’ll go with you, Hinata.”

He blinks, then there’s a flash of his grin as he spins and hurtles for his dad’s room.

“I need to find something to wear.”

“It’s semi-formal, right?” she says.

“Uh, yeah, I guess something like that.”

 

She convinces Hinata to go for a run with her in the afternoon, before they have to get ready. She’s been taking it slower, logging the same miles but at an easier pace. When Hinata, legs itching at this speed, says he’s going to go on ahead and he’ll circle back around to her, Kageyama suffers the worst blow to her pride she’s had in a while. She really can’t help herself when she speeds up along with him. A confused Hinata sticks in this gear for a block or so, before hurrying into the pace he wants, only to find Kageyama still by his side, breathing loudly but evenly.

“Kageyama what are you doing, stop that!”

“You think you’re just going to leave me behind, when I’m the one who invited you to run?”

“Kageyama you’re _slow_ , you just have to face the—Hey!”

He catches up to her then pulls ahead, but she refuses to let him get any farther than a couple steps. Her side is already cramping, but she blames the waffles and keeps going, plain mad at him now for writing her off like that. As they fly across town Hinata launches into a lecture at her, but he doesn’t slow down even as he is demanding that she do so.

Shit, Hinata is fast, that speed on the court isn’t just an illusion of the lighting or the TV. He would probably be farther ahead if he wasn’t calling over his shoulder every ten steps.

“You need to stop right now, this is crazy, you’re going to die!”

“I’m not stopping until you do.”

He doesn’t stop, she knew he wouldn’t. She grunts through her frustration at all the weight making her back ache, throwing her form off and making her waste energy.

“Kageyama I’m dead serious, you need to listen to me right now because I’m the other parent here and I refuse to let you do this and have something bad happen. Cut it out!”

She can’t answer anymore, and to her shock and chagrin, Hinata beats her back into the driveway by a full ten yards. She does get the small satisfaction of hearing his gasps for breath, which are hardly less violent than her own.

“I can’t—believe you—”

She rests her forearms against the house and drops her head between them, letting the headrush subside. After a minute he’s gained breath enough to speak; when he sees her in that position, his tone slides from panic and resentfulness to a tender yelping.

“Hey, are you going to be okay? Kageyama-kun? Gosh, you shouldn’t push yourself like that, what if something goes seriously wrong because you’re exerting yourself like this? Are you in pain? How bad is it?”

“It’s—normal. I’m still in shape,” she huffs. “I had a proper warmup. It’s fine.”

“Well—Well if you say so, but I’m not running with you again, and I forbid you to go that hard ever again until the baby’s here.”

“When it is here, I want a rematch.”

She raises her head to glare, and is met with a wicked smirk.

“Oh,” he says, “Of course we’ll have one. Though I don’t think that will change the result.”

“I knew you’d say that, dumbass. And I hope you keep believing it. That’ll make it all the more fun for me when I beat you.”

“No way! No way, I’ll win, and stop being so smooth!”

He offers her the use of the shower first, and she’s okay when she gets under the warm water, better than okay when the familiar rush of endorphins spurts through her brain and her muscles ache comfortingly. Hinata’s gene pool isn’t without its deficits, but it’s not completely hopeless either. She gets out more quickly than she wants to, for curtesy’s sake, and searches the few cupboards in the cramped bathroom for a towel.

She doesn’t find one. She left her phone in the room with her other things. It’s not a long sprint back there, but her naked body is not the kind of thing Tobio usually takes a risk with. The shower wasn’t long enough to thoroughly heat up the room, so she is starting to get chills already. She squeezes out her hair again, grits her teeth, and very cautiously peeks her head out the door.

His sister is just reaching the stairs.

“Hey,” Kageyama says.

Her head whips around.

“Hey, um—I’m sorry, I don’t know where the towels are. Hinata-kun,” she thinks to add.

Natsu makes a cute squeaking sound, but then she runs back into her room and slams the door, and Kageyama is stuck again, until Hinata, hearing the noise, comes out of his dad’s room.

“K—Kageyama?”

“You didn’t give me a towel, dumbass. And your sister hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you. Natsu doesn’t hate anybody, she’s tolerant even of the most terrible personalities,” he says proudly.

“Well that’s good, considering she’s lived with you her whole life.”

“Hey! Excuse me!”

“Where the hell do you keep your towels,” she says, “I’m cold.”

“Kageyama I have a good personality.”

“Hinata—” she growls. She takes a breath and softens her tone. “Will you please get me a towel?”

“Of course. We don’t have any good storage space for them so we keep them in my dad’s closet.”

He goes back into the room, and brings her a bright blue towel.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Kageyama.”

He grins. She shuts the door.

“Hey, what colors are you wearing?” he calls. “For your party outfit.”

“Black.”

“All black?”

“Yeah.”

 

She does her eyeliner just a little dark; the rest of her makeup is clean and simple as always. She doesn’t give a second thought to the bump, but is glad she brought the shawl anyway, as the dress has thin straps and a V in the front and back. The velvet has a nice sheen that matches her hair, parted and tied back in a bun at the base of her neck.

When she opens her door she can hear Hinata and his sister talking across the hall, inside his dad’s room.

“But if she’s wearing all black it’ll be like the opposite, so we’ll look good together,” he’s insisting.

“Nah ah because if she doesn’t have any accent colors you won’t coordinate, so you have to wear all black too. Do you want to make Kageyama-san look bad?”

“But this shirt fits me better than the black one, that one’s baggy in the front and I have to tuck it in way too far. Can’t I just wear the black tie with—”

Kageyama comes to the doorway and observes his red dress shirt, surprised for the second time by the prominence of his shoulders. She realizes they are both gaping at her, and backs protectively behind the door.

“Um, Kageyama—Kage—yama—you—”

“If you’re more comfortable in this shirt than the other, you can wear the red one,” she ventures. “Your sister’s probably right about the colors, but it’s not prom or anything, so, I guess it doesn’t really matter if we’re coordinated.”

“Right, it’s not really a big deal,” Hinata says.

“I guess not,” his sister whispers. “You’re going to make her look bad either way.”

“Hey—”

He rubs the back of his neck, defeated.

“Are you ready then?” she says.

“Um, just a second, I need a tie, then I’ll be right there.”

She turns and leaves the doorway. When she reaches the stairs she glances back, to see his sister peeking at her. Natsu’s blush darkens and she slowly retreats.

Kageyama can hear his dad whistling in the living room, and on instinct wants to avoid being seen by him, so she takes a seat in the middle of the staircase and waits for Hinata. They go down together.

“You guys look great! I resent you for making me feel old, though. You should preserve this moment, for some future New Year’s when you’re nostalgic like me.”

“Oh yeah, here.” Hinata offers his phone.

He steps back, next to Kageyama, and leans his shoulders just a little close, and his dad takes a few pictures. They slip on their coats and get in the car; after they drop his dad off, Hinata starts to fidget in a way she doesn’t like.

“So…”

She glares. He doesn’t catch it.

“So what,” she says.

“So, about this party thing, um, these are all basically people I knew in high school, that will be there, and since none of them know you…I was just thinking maybe it’d be easiest to say you’re my girlfriend just for now and that this happened on accident while we were—You know, doing regular couple stuff.”

“If you’re going to lie to anyone about that, it should’ve been your dad,” she says. “If you’re not even friends with these people anymore, who cares what we are? They don’t care that you got someone pregnant, and they don’t care how.”

“But I still am friends with them, like, we text and stuff. Facetime. And I was just thinking it’d be less—”

“You deserve to be embarrassed. I played volleyball with a baby bump on national TV.”

“Hey, what? You can’t hold that against me!”

“I’m not pretending to date you.”

“You don’t have to pretend anything. All you have to do is say yes if someone asks if we’re dating, it’s not like they’re going to have us make out to prove it.”

“Lying’s too much work.”

“Too much work? We run and lift weights and play volleyball for hours a day, _and_ go to school.”

“It’s thinking work,” she says.

“You don’t care about the work, you’re just embarrassed to say you’re dating me, how’s that worse than admitting you slept with me? You’d actually sleep with me and you won’t even tell a little white lie that we’re dating? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You don’t make any sense, why would it be a good idea to lie? They’re going to figure out sometime that we were never together, so what’s the point, you dumbass.”

“Okay, first of all, is dumbass the only insult you can think of? And second of all, I’ll just tell them in a month or two that we broke up, and it’ll be like it never happened. They’ll think we were dating and you got pregnant and now we’re not dating anymore, so it’s harmless, see?”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Why?” he demands. “It’s doing you just as much a favor too, aren’t you more ashamed to admit you randomly slept with a guy you hardly know than to admit you and your boyfriend forgot protection one time?”

“I’m not ashamed of what happened.”

Her voice makes him start. He stares at her.

“If you still are, that’s your problem,” she says. “It’s not my job to help you get over it.”

Quiet.

“You didn’t have to wear a revenge dress,” he grumbles. “I said I was sorry for getting you pregnant, what else can I do?”

She scoffs.

“This isn’t a revenge dress, it’s a winter party dress.”

“I bet you a hundred dollars that no one else at the party is gonna look like this.”

“You _said_ it was semi-formal—”

They have pulled up outside, and can already hear the loudness of the party. Hinata shuts off the car without putting it in park, and hits the brake just in time to avoid bumping the car in front. He hurries inside without checking to see if she’s keeping up, and by the time she gets in there and hangs up her coat he’s already across the room talking with a trio of guys. She picks her way around the crowd and comes toward him. Hinata seems to be watching from the corner of his eye, and when she gets within a few feet he departs from this group and goes on to another, this one made up of long-legged young women with long curls on their shoulders. Hinata catches her eye and gives almost a smirk. She glares back and turns sharply away. If he wants to be mad that’s fine, because she’s still mad too.

She’s terrible at events like this, so she immediately looks for something to do, settling for a cup of punch and to sit on an empty loveseat. She can’t actually drink it because she doesn’t know if there’s any alcohol content, so she spins it in her fingers and resists the urge to look at her phone like a total loser. As she moves to get comfortable she is reminded of the bump, and even though no one is looking her way, she bunches the ends of the shawl over her stomach, cheeks turning pink.

Someone sits down and almost startles her right up. It’s only Hinata.

“Hey, um, I’m sorry. You wanna meet some of my friends? Like—Oh my gosh, there’s Yachi! Yachi-san!”

He stands up, waving his arms, and Kageyama watches a tiny blond girl wave back, tiptoeing around the crowd to get to him. She’s wearing a pressed white blouse under a grey buttoned cardigan, a dark red skirt and grey leggings, and suddenly Tobio gets hot on the inside, less than proud of the way she’s dressed and the state her body is in. She hikes the shawl higher onto her shoulder.

“Yach-san you look so pretty! It’s been so long since I saw you, even though we talk all the time it’s not the same.”

Hinata hugs her, hard and long.

“No, it’s not the same,” she says.

Then she happens to see Kageyama on the couch behind him, staring daggers at her. Yachi makes a choked gasp and loosens her hold on Hinata. He lets go of her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear lipstick, have you done it before?” Hinata says.

“Um, a few times. Is this a school friend of yours, Hinata-kun?”

“Oh yeah, this is Kageyama! She’s on the women’s volleyball team, they just won the championship this month.”

“Wow,” she breathes. “Congratulations.”

Kageyama can’t answer. She doesn’t know why she wanted the girl to be afraid of her, but she’s sorry now.

“Kageyama-kun is also—the girl I talked to you about before,” Hinata says, “Remember?”

Yachi blinks rapidly. “Oh! Oh yes, of course, I understand. How is Kageyama-san?”

Hinata glances at her. “She’s doing good. I went with her to her parents’ house, now she’s staying with my family.”

“That’s nice.”

“Happy New Year,” Kageyama says, to say something.

“Yeah, Happy New Year Yach-san!” He hugs her again. “We should meet up more often. I feel smarter after I hang out with you, so I’m more motivated to do my assignments.”

“You’re close to graduating, shouldn’t you be motivated enough?”

“Not that close. Have you seen Yamaguchi here, did he come home for break?”

“I haven’t met him yet, but I know he was planning to come. I’m going to go get some snacks, I can bring you and Kageyama-san some if you want?”

“Sure! Kageyama you want some snacks? Are you craving anything?”

Kageyama shoots him a glare and says nothing.

“I guess whatever you think looks good,” he says. “Thank you Yachi-kun.”

She nods, and before she leaves, touches his shoulder and leans close to him. Their faces are out of view, and Kageyama scowls again. She’s never liked parties, so why would she agree to come to stupid Hinata’s?

Yachi leaves, and Hinata sits back down.

“Who’s she?” Kageyama blurts.

“Who? Um, Yachi? Didn’t you hear me say—”

“I mean who _is_ she, your old girlfriend? Your—current girlfriend?”

Her own jaw goes slack at what she said. Panicked heat bubbles up in her stomach, she’s going to be sick right here on the couch.

“What? Yachi isn’t my girlfriend! Even if you are beautiful I would never sleep with you if I already had a girlfriend Kageyama, gosh.”

“Well—” A huge breath shakes from her lungs in silence. “You’re hugging her and she’s whispering stuff in your ear and whatever.”

“She was one of my best friends in high school and I hardly see her anymore,” he says. “I have to hug her whenever I get the chance. And she was whispering about you, she said you’re gorgeous.” He leans in, lowering his voice. “She’s a lesbian, so she would know.”

“Well I didn’t know she was,” she mumbles. She’s not good at picking up on that kind of thing, it took her nine years on a girls’ volleyball team to conclude that her admiration for her teammates was motivated by a little more than empowerment and envy.

“Yamaguchi!!!”

“Hi Hinata.”

The redhead lunges for another hug, this time from a guy, who is just as cute as the cute blond girl. Kageyama rolls her eyes.

“How are you Yama-kun, how was your semester?”

“We survived,” says the freckled boy. “Lucky Tsukki, he only has one semester left.”

“You’re graduating early Tsukishima? That is lucky, you bastard.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” says the tall blond.

Kageyama scoffs, and he looks at her.

“Oh, did you bring someone from university Hinata?” says Yamaguchi.

“Yeah yeah, this is Kageyama-kun, she’s my um—You know, we—had a thing.”

“Ohh, this is—”

Tsukishima turns away, snorting into his hand. “I’m sorry.”

He leaves, and Yamaguchi’s face flushes painfully.

“I’m sorry about that. I told him what you told me, Hinata, I’m sorry if you didn’t want him to know so soon, but I thought it would be better—I’m really sorry,” he says to Kageyama.

“It’s okay.” She’s still glaring at his back as the guy goes to the snack bar.

“So, are things going okay so far?” Yamaguchi asks her.

“Yeah.”

“Kageyama just won her first volleyball championship and got MVP of the championship game all while she was pregnant!”

“Woah, seriously? Savage,” he adds quietly.

Hinata laughs. “I know right?”

He doesn’t need to leave the couch to introduce her to anyone; they all come to him. At some point Kageyama realizes they are completely circled in, and has no idea when this happened. Some guy is sitting on the armrest that is supposed to be hers, and she’s been unconsciously edging away from him and is now far too close to Hinata, she can’t move her hand without brushing it against his hip or side. But since he’s the only person she knows, she can’t bring herself to move back away, and because he’s the center of attention she feels like she is also being looked at a lot, and if she sits this close they won’t be able to forget Hinata’s here too.

There doesn’t seem to be any chance of that anyway. Exactly how many pretty girls went to Hinata’s school, and why is it that every one of them has an inside joke with him? Tobio’s the one he brought here, so they could at least tone it down. Hinata has explained to the group at large that he and she are not a couple (Kageyama instantly regrets not complying with his wish just to avoid the mortification of the announcement), but they still know she’s pregnant with his kid and that should count for _something_. She’s never giggled at him or complimented him this way, but she gave him sex, which she has been thus far led to believe is wanted more than anything else. And she thought she was pretty good for him, had satisfied him pretty well. She didn’t let him top, and that probably did something to guy’s egos, but sex is sex, isn’t she going to get credit for that? And she was as lean as any of these women at the time, she had abs for crying out loud!

As he’s blabbing away she looks at her phone, and sees that the time has changed, it’s already past midnight. She looks through the crowd and sees several couples kissing. Well, she can’t make Hinata change his story now, but she can still put her foot forward. She grabs him by the tie and gives him an open, lingering kiss.

“Happy New Year. Dumbass,” she adds in undertone.

After that, the people around them not-so-subtly disperse. Hinata seems to have run out of breath for talking anyway. Kageyama, now forced to repay their parting words while he is nonfunctional, catches a few of their looks, and her cheeks grow steadily toward embarrassment. Hinata’s the one who pushed her to it, he’s been pissing her off since this morning.

Not many minutes later, he tells her they can leave.

 

On New Year’s Day Hinata will be taking her home, but not until the early evening, so that her stay and his will be exactly equal. During Kageyama’s morning bathroom visit she is interrupted by knocking.

“Nii-chan you’re taking too long! You should let the people who wear makeup or are pregnant have more time in the—”

Kageyama opens the door, and watches as Natsu’s legs almost fold under her.

“I—I—I’m sorry Kageyama-san—”

“I’m sorry I was taking too long,” Kageyama says. “I probably think your family cares a lot more about how I look than you actually do.”

She picks up her things and steps by Natsu to go to her room.

“Your hair is pretty,” his sister blurts.

She turns her head. “So is yours.”

The only person she has seen combust before her eyes like Natsu does, is her brother. She doesn’t seem to have a very good effect on them.

 

They were down by 5 points in the fifth set. It would have been nothing doing if the score were 0-5, or 5-10, but the other team was at 13 points, two points away from winning, and Karasuno now demanded something of its setter, its playmaker. Kageyama was in the front row, the only presence on the right side, and when the receive came her way she lined up to hit it. It didn’t matter that the blockers read her, she could go against a double block any day, she had watched it done by her hitters her whole career. She chipped it off the outside hand and scored, to make it her serve, and the back line was exactly where she wanted to be. Every comeback point was going to start with her.

The home field had quieted to a low buzz, as hope dwindled away and nerves rose, poised to shatter into grief. Hinata had his sweatshirt stuffed in his mouth, his eyes watching the giant ball on screen bounce between Kageyama’s shoes. He was all tight and taunt and straining, but she looked anything but, and the material fell from his teeth as he watched her toss up the ball in that familiar, perfect, same motion, like this wasn’t a game, like there was no critic in the gym except her. She cranked out the serve. It went untouched.

Ace.

She tightened her pony and took the next ball that was bounced to her. 10-13. The ball came back, she directed the offense, and Karasuno scored.

The students screamed and high fived and went right into shouted prayers and pleading as Kageyama went to serve again. Hinata hopped from one foot to the other, clutching hard on his stomach to hold in the queasiness.

“Come on, come on,” he begged with the rest, “G—Go—GO!”

The libero had picked up a hard shot from their outside, now Kageyama had the ball again, the middle was wrapping around her, she flicked it lightning quick out to the left side, and all the spiker had to do was hit the space between the blockers. The score was 12-13. Kageyama aimed for the corner and dug in on her nasty jump serve. The passer sent it out of bounds, and she earned another ace.

“KAGEYAMA GO GO COME ON PLEASE COME ON YOU CAN DO IT—”

Hinata jumped against the shoulders of the person in front of him, letting out wordless screams between sentences. Teammates on either side pulled on his clothes and shook him and hollered, but he couldn’t look away from the screen. His head swam but Kageyama was always in focus as she bounced the ball, he wanted to start sobbing and his shouts of “Karasuno” almost sounded like that, he felt like he needed to wrench everything out of himself or he would explode.

Was Kageyama really going to do this, and were they going to win? The camera zoomed in on her face, her light eyes as she blinked, her parted lips as they huffed hot air against the ball. She looked tired, but she also looked, very clearly to him, like she was telling everyone that they better not be doubting her.

It was tied up. Even so there was no noticeable fire taken off her serve, and she nearly got an ace again, but it was saved, though only for the desperate tip by the cornered hitter to be stuff blocked by Karasuno. Kageyama was nodding and patting their shoulders, and if the field was not so loud with desperation they could have heard their pleas matched by her teammates as they willed her to make the next serve in, to keep them one point ahead and one point from victory. She served and it turned into a rally, the opponents dug them and made a play that banged off Karasuno’s block. Kageyama ran off the back of the court and laid out to keep it alive, and with all the poise and will that made her the setter, shouted the play call from her knees. The ball was hit, dug up but with difficulty, making the toss wobble and bringing the hitter in a little too close. Karasuno’s triple block only had to wait, wait, and jump up and watch it bounce off their fingers, falling on the other side of the net.

The six on the court turned in silence to the referee to make sure the final point was called. And when it was, Kageyama Tobio was the first to scream. She was joined in a moment by her teammates and the gym and everyone back home, but hers was the first reaction, the big jump and the clenched fist and the scream, because it was impossible for anyone else to be as sure, as she was.

Hinata didn’t see anything after the final block, until he watched it later on recording. The ground under them was shaking and he felt like he was going to pass out but was crying in desperation because that was the last thing he wanted to do right now. Everyone was throwing their jerseys and caps and flags and nobody cared that he was a stranger hugging them and sobbing into their chests. He felt like the world was on fire but somehow the heat turned out to be exactly what they had all waited to feel their whole lives, and it consumed his brain and his veins and lungs and he couldn’t feel his knees under him, but it was giving him the best voice he had ever had, and he used it all that night until he couldn’t anymore.

Kageyama had felt the same, just for a much shorter period of time. In fact, by the time of the trophy presentation she was perfectly subdued, which she was forgiven for since no one had forgotten how she reacted first. They let her be, no one attributed it to that single-minded, lofty attitude that she had been branded with before. Not that she would care if they did anyway, because it wasn’t like that this time.

It was her first title since high school, and she could feel the satisfaction aching and searing through her body, but there was another feeling that kept the elation out of her head, kept a bittersweet, sobering edge on the wave of ecstasy. This could have been her last game, because what if something went wrong, or if she just wasn’t the same when she came back? She had two things this win that she hadn’t had in others, one she was sure of, and one she was not. She had a baby inside her, and she had perspective.

 

They haven’t talked much during the return drive. As they are nearing her parents’ neighborhood, Kageyama says, not without venom:

“Do you have any other babies I should know about?”

“Huh?”

“I said—”

“I know what you said! And no I don’t! I know what you’re thinking, that since I’m friends with Yachi and all those other people I must have slept with them at some point, but that’s not how it is, you’re the only person I’ve done something like that with but you don’t get that because you don’t _have_ friends, nobody’s worth the trouble of being just friends to you, so of course you would think that there has to be benefits involved.”

When she is quiet, he reels back with a flush and remorse.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you don’t have friends, because you do, of course, you’re really cool and you have cool friends.”

She says nothing, and his face scrunches in discomfort.

They pull up to the curb by her parents’ house. She turns to pull her bag out of the back.

“Thanks for driving me.”

She gets out and goes up the sidewalk. Then Hinata opens his door and comes around the front of the car.

“Hey, um, Kageyama?”

She turns.

“About—About the baby coming and everything, I—I sort of overheard you and your parents, and so you’re moving into family housing, right? Is that for this semester? The one coming up, I mean?”

“Yeah,” she says.

“So, were you not going to ask me to live there with you?”

She blinks.

“You and the baby, when it comes?” he says.

“No, I wasn’t.”

“What?”

“No, I wasn’t going to ask you.”

“Why not?” He tries to yell, but his voice is wounded. “You weren’t even going to tell me you were moving? Even though I should know where the baby’s going to live? And you weren’t going to offer even if I want to be there to help prepare?”

Tears fall down his cheeks. She stares.

“Hinata, what the hell.”

“I’m the father of the baby, you shouldn’t have treated me like that!”

“Treated you like _what_? I told you you could do what you want, how is that a bad way to treat you?”

“Because!” He swipes his arm across his face. “Because that makes me feel like you’re not expecting anything from me, and I hate that! You would just be okay with me doing nothing, and that’s not good enough. That’s not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for the baby, and it’s not good enough for you, Kageyama.”

She’s not going to cry. She doesn’t know what kind of ploy this is, what he wants to get out of her, but she’s not falling for it.

“Why would you want to live with me while there’s no baby?” she says. “We don’t know each other. It’s not due until May, so school will be over and then if you wanted to live with us we could find someplace, that’s what I thought.”

“Yeah that’s what you thought but you could’ve asked me,” he cries. “You could’ve asked, if I wanted to help before then, because I do, I want to help with everything, or it’s not fair.”

He wipes his cheeks again, and now he’s glaring at her. Kageyama glares back.

“You don’t want me to expect nothing of you,” she says. “But guess what, with me it’s either nothing or everything. So if you want to be held to a high standard, I’ll hold you to _my_ standard, the highest standard there is.”

“Good!”

She flinches.

“That’s perfect! Bring it on, Kageyama, I’ll meet your standard, I’ll blow it away. Because I’m doing this, and you better be ready for it.”

“No, you better be ready.”

“I will, I just said that!”

“Shut up! We move in on the fourth.”

“What time?” he hollers as he gets in his car.

“Two o’clock,” she shouts.

“Great!”

“You better be fifteen minutes early!”

“I will!!!”

She rolls her eyes and stalks the rest of the way to the house. She drops her bag on the couch and sits down.

How is she supposed to react to this development? She isn’t sure, but she doesn’t think it’s so bad to let out a little smile, since there’s no one around to see it.

 


End file.
